or to remain wherever he wishes.
We shall then invest him with the governance of Iraq, appoint him as our deputy in the service of the Imamate, and turn our reins toward the eastern realms. Our ambition is directed to nothing but this obligatory objective; it does not covet any of those kingdoms. Rather, the impulse is purely religious. He—may Allah perpetuate his authority—knows with certainty what we have stated and is aware that our advance after this letter is for that well-known purpose and for no other. Therefore, let not the hearts of his tribesmen feel any fear of us, for they are all our brothers, under our protection and covenant. Upon us rests Allah’s pledge and binding compact toward them so long as they remain in harmony with the illustrious prince in supporting us. All who are attached to him—Arab, non-Arab, or Kurd—are secure under his overall protection and are included in our covenant and guarantee as well as his. Every offender in Iraq is granted our pardon and safety for what has previously occurred—save al-Basāsirī, who has no covenant or security from us. He is consigned to Satan and his deceits, for he has committed a grave offense against the religion of Allah. God willing, he will be seized wherever he is found and punished for what he has done; he has sought the blood of many people through his evil nature, and his deeds testify to the corruption of his creed.
Written in Ramadan, 451 AH, and dispatched with two learned envoys, together with magnificent gifts for the Caliph. He charged them to serve the Caliph on his behalf. May Allah reward him with the best of rewards on behalf of Islam.
When the letter reached Quraysh ibn Badrān, he inquired of the envoys and others about Sultan Ṭughril Beg and learned that vast forces accompanied him. Terrified, he sent orders to the desert to have the watering places filled in and large stocks of fodder transported there. He then forwarded the letter and the news to al-Basāsirī. Al-Basāsirī—may Allah disgrace him—was shaken by this; his strength collapsed and his cause weakened. He moved his family out of Baghdad, set up large encampments for himself at Wāsiṭ, and made it his headquarters. He agreed to the Caliph’s return to Baghdad, but set many conditions in order to save face.
When al-Basāsirī’s household left Baghdad—accompanied by the people of al-Karkh and the Rāfiḍīs, may Allah Most High disgrace them—they sailed down the Tigris to Wāsiṭ. Their departure from Baghdad was on the sixth of Dhū al-Qaʿdah of this year; on that very date the previous year they had entered Baghdad. At that moment the Hāshimites and the Sunnis, from Bāb al-Baṣrah to al-Karkh, rose up, plundered the district, and burned many of its quarters. Among the buildings consumed by the flames was the Dār al-ʿIlm endowed by the vizier Azdashīr seventy years earlier, which contained a great number of books. Also destroyed was Darb al-Zaʿfarān, which held 1,200 houses, each of great worth and value.
Quraysh ibn Badrān then marched to the land of Mosul ⦗1⦘ and sent word to Ḥadīthat ʿĀnah, saying to its governor, Muḥyī al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥārith Mahārish ibn Majallī, to whom the Caliph had been entrusted: “Sound policy requires that you transfer the Caliph to me so that we may secure safety for ourselves through him. Do not hand him over until you obtain a written guarantee for us, and take that guarantee into your own hand, not mine.”
Mahārish refused and said, “Al-Basāsirī has made lavish promises to me, yet I have seen none of them. I shall never send him to you. I am bound to him by solemn oaths that I will not betray.” Mahārish was an upright, trustworthy, and reliable man (may Allah have mercy on him).